Even though I'd been in Austin a few years. I was still fairly new in town. And little did I know my life was about to change dramatically. It was back in 2009 and I wanted to become more active in the angel investment and startup community in Austin. I noticed an article about Capital Factory in the Austin Business Journal, and reached out to the author Christopher Calnan for an intro to Josh Baer. I was pleasantly surprised when he responded and even more so when Josh did to my followup email to him. Josh and I ended up meeting at one of my favorite venues, the Whole Foods at 6th and Lamar. And between the two of us bouncing off the walls on how much we enjoyed working with startups it was a rapid fire and fun lunch. Pretty much everything is rapid fire with Josh and it continued that way. I soon after became a lead mentor and enjoyed the role immensely working with Chuck and Mario on Sparefoot and seeing them take off. Meeting the other mentors was a great experience. The mentors, the companies, the partners and community were phenomenal. It has really helped me connect with and contribute to the Austin community and build lasting relationships, and at the end of the day for me that's what Capital Factory is all about.

The Capital Factory plugged me in better and faster than I could've imagined. Within a week of unpacking, I had a full calendar of great events, a welcoming community of like-minded entrepreneurs, and a place to call home downtown. I couldn't recommend CF more highly.

The vibrancy of the city was palpable when I initially unpacked my bags the first time I scouted out Austin. As CEO, I initially came here to explore why so many of our photography sign ups were coming from here—but while Austin's creative pulse is what piqued our interest, what kept me here was the tech scene that Capital Factory introduced me to. Encouraged by my co-founder—who had heard great things about Capital Factory—I quickly realized that this was the ideal place to grow my burgeoning photography startup.

Within days of making the leap, I was routinely speaking with leaders in the industry, who were open-minded, future-thinking, and wholly supportive of our company's vision. Our company and team would not be on the positive path it is today, if it weren't for meeting Joshua Baer and all the incredible mentors we've met at Capital Factory.